Home-Made Pork Pie

My first ever attempt at making pork pies - and I was fairly happy. Room for improvement, but, hey, not bad for a first time!

Step One - Simmer two trotters and a hock for a couple of hours to make stock.

Step Two - Strain The Stock.

3. Mix seasoning into minced pork.

4. Melt lard into three tablespoons of water.

5. Knead the dough.

6. Spread clingfilm over a jar to make a mould.

7. Roll the pastry and place over the mould.

8. Trim to make a level (!) edge then cool down in the fridge.

9. Fill with meat mixture and pop a lid on. Cut a hole in the lid.

10. Brush with beaten egg, loosely wrap with foil, then secure foil to maintain the shape - use a paper clip!

11. Soon there are three pies.

12. Not great looking, but pork pies nonetheless!

Corned Beef Hash Challenge - The Result!

The scores on the doors for the Crazy Squirrel recipe were:

Ease & Effort - 4.

Presentation - 4.

Taste - 4.

Which means that the final result is a victory for Saint Delia of Smith! Well done love, you won by quite a margin, and the recipe is a worthy champion!

　

Final scores:

1st Delia Smith - 13.5

2nd= Crazy Squirrel - 12

2nd= Get Stuffed - 12

4th Brian’s Belly - 11.5

5th Wally Webb - 11

6th Netmums - 10.5

7th= James Martin “B” - 10

7th= Wasabi Bratwurst - 10

9th Mamma Cherri - 9

10th James Martin “A” - 8.5

11th Bob Jude - 6.5

12th Student Recipes - 5

　

And here’s a final reminder of the winning recipe:

Corned Beef Hash Challenge - Part 12 of 12 - Crazy Squirrel

Crazy Squirrel is a weird old website. I think it's stopped updating now, but who knows? How will their CBH match up?

　

Track Record?

　

Scrambled Egg - not entered.

Welsh Rarebit - not entered.

Poached Egg - not entered.

Did We Get Permission?

We asked but didn’t receive a reply.

Website Version

There’s no photo online, sorry.

You can find this recipe here: http://www.crazysquirrel.com/recipes/beef/corned-beef-hash.jspx

　

Ease & Effort:

Very simple but very well defined. Precise instructions which would make it easy for a novice chef or cook to follow. Very impressed with the slicing and dicing directions. I was very doubtful about the 1cm of water, but was equally amazed that it boiled down nicely. I used a really awful pan though, so I transferred the mixture to a good, non-stick pan. Adding the extra bits was simple. All in all, clear and easy! Score TBN.

Presentation:

It looked rather tasty (and smelled great). All the ingredients mixed together splendidly, cooking down to a lovely consistency that allowed it to stick messily together. The addition of the leek added a little extra interest. Very good! Score TBN.

Taste:

This CBH tasted as nice as it looked. Obviously the squirrel who wrote the recipe is not as crazy as he claims to be. This was the only method that cooked everything in the same pan, but using boiling AND frying , and the result was a moist, well balanced, slightly spicy meal. The onions were reinforced by the leek to compliment the carrot and potato., and this was one of the best versions in the competition. Score TBN.

　

My Version

Scores On The Doors

Delia Smith - 13.5

Get Stuffed - 12

Brian’s Belly - 11.5

Wally Webb - 11

Netmums - 10.5

James Martin “B” - 10

Wasabi Bratwurst - 10

Mamma Cherri - 9

James Martin “A” - 8.5

Bob Jude - 6.5

Student Recipes - 5

Corned Beef Hash Challenge - Part 11 of 12 - Bob Jude

Bob Jude I‘ve called ‘em ,but they trade under “Geordie Recipes“. It’s a bit much to claim CBH, and many other dishes (including bread & butter pudding and toad in the hole) as being Geordie, but let’s forgive them that. This is a homely website with a feeling of real enthusiasm, and some of the other recipes look worth a try.

　

Track Record?

　

Scrambled Egg - not entered.

Welsh Rarebit - not entered.

Poached Egg - not entered.

Did We Get Permission?

Of course we did! And Bob & Jude replied: “Hi, Simon, HelloSure Feel Free, out of interest, the most popular recipe for feedback on the site seems to be pease pudding one where bacon is used. All so far trying that one say this is excellent and think to drop a line, it was sent from an elderly lady as an alternate way to make pease pudding.The corned beef hash recipe is even nicer when using an organic turnip and parsnips.Its quite filling and excellent for warming kids and grown ups on any winter dayYou could have just used that freely with our blessing, you'll enjoy your self we're sure.RegardsBob & Jude“

Website Version

There’s no photo online, sorry.

You can find this recipe here: http://www.bobjude.co.uk/recipes/hash.html

　

Ease & Effort:

Way to vague. This is pretty much another Chop & Chuck recipe, complete with the less-than-detailed instructions we’ve known to love but more usually dislike. For a start the ingredients are in imperial measures, which are foreign even for a forty-one year old like me. I had to place the veg into the scales in the shop to get the right amount. As for “sliced” potatoes and carrots - is there a difference? Guidance would have been useful. And is “chopped” onion any different in size to “sliced” carrot? At least the cooking times were well defined. Score 2.

Presentation:

It looks like a stew, not the hash that it probably should - which is more than likely down to the imprecise preparation instructions. When the recipe says “cover with stock” and later “remove lid to brown the top”…..well….how do you brown the still-full stock? It’s look is possibly one of the worst in the competition so far. Sloppy beyond measure. Score 1.5.

Taste:

Quite nice. It was mainly individual bits of carrot, potato, onion and CB, but it still tasted quite nice. For a Chop & Chuck, the longer cooking time helped a lot, and although not mixed well together, the separate bits were rather tasty. If only there’d been some instruction to mix or fold or combine or…..you get the idea. Score 3.

　

　

My Version

　

Scores On The Doors

Delia Smith - 13.5

Get Stuffed - 12

Brian’s Belly - 11.5

Wally Webb - 11

Netmums - 10.5

James Martin “B” - 10

Wasabi Bratwurst - 10

Mamma Cherri - 9

James Martin “A” - 8.5

Bob Jude - 6.5

Student Recipes - 5

Running Order:

12 - Crazy Squirrel

Corned Beef Hash Challenge - Part 10 of 12 - Student Recipes

Student Recipes is a website that does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s full of recipes, submitted by students. Recipes. For students. There are several versions of CBH, and I picked this one at random.

　

Track Record?

　

Scrambled Egg - not entered.

Welsh Rarebit - not entered.

Poached Egg - not entered.

Did We Get Permission?

I asked but didn’t receive a reply.

Website Version

There’s no photo online, sorry.

You can find this recipe here: http://www.studentrecipes.com/recipes/beef/corned-beef-hash/

　

Ease & Effort:

It‘s fairly simple to follow this recipe, as the recipe is very vague. Well, when I say “follow” I really should say “make half of it up yourself, as you go along”. The list of ingredients includes “Thinly sliced potatoes” and “Sliced onions” - no amounts are included. There’s a handy tip about chilling your corned beef to ease slicing, but that’s as helpful as it gets. “Bake for about an hour”, but no temperature means that the cooking was rather hit and miss. So - easy to follow, because it’s lacking detail. Score 2.5.

Presentation:

Poor. This didn‘t look at all how I‘ve come to view CBH. It didn’t look like a finished dish, it looked like a dollop of sliced potato, sliced onion, and sliced corned beef. Which is what it is of course, but I hope you understand what I’m getting at. In itself it didn’t look horrible. Score 1.5.

Taste:

Not good. The cooking times left the potato too hard and the onion too crunchy. Double it and you’d be getting there. The three main ingredients didn’t combine at all, meaning this was a plateful of part-cooked items, not a complementary meld of flavours. Score 1.

　

　

　

My Version

　

　

　

　

Scores On The Doors

Delia Smith - 13.5

Get Stuffed - 12

Brian’s Belly - 11.5

Wally Webb - 11

Netmums - 10.5

James Martin “B” - 10

Wasabi Bratwurst - 10

Mamma Cherri - 9

James Martin “A” - 8.5

Student Recipes - 5

　

Running Order:

11 - Bob Jude

12 - Crazy Squirrel

Corned Beef Hash Challenge - Part 9 of 12 - James Martin "B"

Never has a single chef had two entries in a 2-Sox challenge. That‘s now changed, as “Baby“ James Martin sees his second version of CBH hit the cooker.

　

Track Record?

You know this already, but,

Scrambled Egg - Winner! Out of 6.

Welsh Rarebit - 6th out of 6.

Poached Egg - 11th out of 12.

Did We Get Permission?

I asked - no reply. Game on.

Website Version

There’s no photo online, sorry.

　

　

Ease & Effort:

Slice your onion. Slice your garlic. Fry them until golden brown. Perfectly clear. “Cut the corned beef” means the default 1cm cubes. When James says “cook a little” I randomly chose a five minute stretch. All good so far. It’s even easy to put the mixture into the oven. One point needs addressing. The online recipe claims to “serve 4” yet only suggests frying two eggs - half a fried egg each? That’s mean! Score 3.5.

Presentation:

It didn’t really look like CBH. It didn’t look nasty either. But as this is a CBH test, this loses points for presentation, even when you fry the egg as superbly as I did. And. Do NOT touch the cooking pot, whatever you use - it‘s HOT and it WILL burn you. Not that I did this, oh no. Score 2.5.

Taste:

Delicious. No other way to describe BJ’s second pop at the CBH crown. But where are the potatoes James? And why is it called, ridiculously, “Beefcake Hash”? It’s very tasty. Score 4.

　

My Version

　

　

　

　

Scores On The Doors

Delia Smith - 13.5

Get Stuffed - 12

Brian’s Belly - 11.5

Wally Webb - 11

Netmums - 10.5

James Martin “B” - 10

Wasabi Bratwurst - 10

Mamma Cherri - 9

James Martin “A” - 8.5

Running Order:

10 - Student Recipes

11 - Bob Jude

12 - Crazy Squirrel

Corned Beef Hash Challenge - Part 8 of 12 - Wally Webb

Wally Webb is a local legend in East Anglia, as the entertaining host of BBC Radio Norfolk’s early breakfast show. He’s often credited with being the inspiration for the Alan Partridge character - but he doesn’t swear quite as much, and has no obsession with monkey tennis.

　

Track Record?

Scrambled Egg - not entered.

Welsh Rarebit - not entered.

Poached Egg - not entered.

Did We Get Permission?

Of course! I approached the local legend and he sent me his own, personal recipe.

Website Version

There’s no photo available, and the recipe can‘t be found online anywhere (unless Wally‘s stuck it on his blog - http://www.wallyonnorfolk.blogspot.com/).

So, reproduced in full for you lucky people, here it is:

　

Corned Beef Hash “The Wally Way”

Ingredients

Can of Corned Beef mmmmmmmmmm

Mashed potatoes

1 Egg

French Mustard

Tabasco sauce

Sliced beetroot

Parsley (to garnish)

Method

1. With the help of a friend (needs to be someone that you don’t mind falling out with) – open the tin of corned beef.

2. On the chopping board, dice up the corned beef finely. I do it neatly and methodically so I finish up with lots of ¼ inch cubes.

3. In a mixing bowl put 8 drops of Tabasco sauce ( you may prefer more or less – it’s trial and error according to preference) Add a couple of teaspoons of French mustard (again it’s down to your preference) Stir together.

4. Add the cubed Corned beef and mix in well.

5. Now add the mashed potatoes and crack in the egg. Mix carefully and well.

6. Heat a little cooking oil (I prefer sunflower oil) in a heavy bottomed frying pan. Don’t let it smoke.

7. Add the mixture to the pan and spread evenly. Allow to heat thoroughly until the underside is golden brown. (You’ll have to gently lift the edge to check)

8. When ready, fold over like an omelette and turn out onto a warmed plate.

9. Finally, add a couple of slices of beetroot and garnish with parsley. MMmmmmmmmmmmm.

　

　

Ease & Effort:

A nice, simple set of ingredients from Wally with clear instructions on how to prepare the corned beef. The inclusion of just “Mashed Potatoes” with no amount specified isn’t ideal though, how much should a CBH virgin use? I chose the random route for this, grabbed the portion of frozen mash that was nearest the top in the freezer, and it weighed in at 340g. As a spice fan (the food spices, not the Four Dogs & A Blackbird variety) I was very happy with the aroma when the Tabasco and the French mustard were mixed together ready for the corned beef. After spreading the mixture evenly in the pan over a medium heat it was tricky to check for browning as it didn’t bond together well enough - I think that could be remedied with either an extra egg or a little less mashed potato. Score 4.

Presentation:

The first CBH omelette of the competition was a great idea! Due to lack of sticking-together-ness it didn’t turn out quite perfectly, but there’s definite promise there. And me being me, I forgot to pick up fresh parsley for the finishing touch. Still, looked good, and would look even better with slight alterations. Score 3.

Taste:

I‘m a sucker for crispy fried mashed potato, so this was always going to appeal to my taste buds. I wasn’t disappointed. The addition of beetroot to the finished dish was unique, and it all combined rather nicely. Crispy, yum yum! When I re-try this method after the competition I’ll be bigging up on Tabasco and mustard, and using less mash. Score 4.

　

　

　

My Version

　

　

Scores On The Doors

Delia Smith - 13.5

Get Stuffed - 12

Brian’s Belly - 11.5

Wally Webb - 11

Netmums - 10.5

Wasabi Bratwurst - 10

Mamma Cherri - 9

James Martin “A” - 8.5

　

Running Order:

9 - James Martin B

10 - Student Recipes

11 - Bob Jude

12 - Crazy Squirrel

Corned Beef Hash Challenge - Part 7 of 12 - Delia Smith

Delia‘s an ever-present in these food challenges, but has only made the podium once. How will her CBH stand up to the test? As Harry Hill would say, “There’s only one way to find out!”

　

Track Record?

Scrambled Egg - 5th out of 6.

Welsh Rarebit - 3rd out of 6.

Poached Egg - Last out of 12.

Did We Get Permission?

I asked in my usual polite manner and received the following reply:

Dear Simon

Thank you for your e-mail. We would be happy to use the recipe if you only refer to it via a direct link and do not reproduce any part of it on your blog. You would also need to ensure that no negative posts are included on your blog as this would be inappropriate.

Thanks

Nikki Dance

Business Manager

www.deliaonline.com

Website Version

You can find this recipe here:

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/exotic/american/corned-beef-hash-with-fried-eggs.html

　　

Ease & Effort:

I was almost hoping that there would be glaring problems with this recipe, so that I could rub Nikki Dance up the wrong way, so to speak. But it was watertight - nearly. The timings and measurements throughout this recipe are superb, very accurate and easy to follow. The only slight possible error is in the first paragraph, in which it’s not made very clear how the corned beef should be chopped. A simple “dice the corned beef into 1cm pieces” would work better than the actual, ambiguous text. This is a VERY easy to follow recipe and produced a Most Excellent CBH. Also, if you accidentally dip your finger into the Worcester sauce/mustard mixture, your taste buds will be in overdrive before you even start cooking! Score 4.5.

Presentation:

With the fried egg perched proudly atop the hash, and a puddle of tomato sauce alongside, this looked absolutely yummy. Unusually, the finished product looked almost exactly the same as the web photo, which gave me confidence that the recipe had been tried and tested before publishing. Score 4.5.

Taste:

Utterly delicious, and the best CBH so far. Delia really hits the nail on the head with this one. It’s spicy, with a warm, moist, comforting texture that tempts you to eat more of it than you really should in one sitting. The cooking times are spot on, and give the onions and potatoes some occasional crispy corners that add to the overall flavour perfectly. I’ll be amazed and delighted if another contender beats this one! Score 4.5.

　

　

My Version

　

　

　

　

Scores On The Doors

Delia Smith - 13.5

Get Stuffed - 12

Brian’s Belly - 11.5

Netmums - 10.5

Wasabi Bratwurst - 10

Mamma Cherri - 9

James Martin “A” - 8.5

　

Running Order:

8 - BBC Radio Norfolk’s Wally Webb

9 - James Martin B

10 - Student Recipes

11 - Bob Jude

12 - Crazy Squirrel

Corned Beef Hash Challenge - Part 6 of 12 - Wasabi Bratwurst

A late substitution on Round Six, as the Aga Links website no longer carries a CBH recipe - maybe corned beef is not posh enough for Aga owners? Anyway, into the field of play comes Wasabi Bratwurst, a food blog based in America. It seems that Corned Beef Hash is only ever prepared in the USA the day after St Patrick’s Day. Mind you, with other recipes such as “Beer-Steamed Mussels” and “Beer Butt Chicken” this website is worth a look.

　

Track Record?

Scrambled Egg - not entered.

Welsh Rarebit - not entered.

Poached Egg - not entered.

Did We Get Permission?

I asked but didn‘t receive a reply.

Website Version

There’s no photo on this website.

You can find this recipe here: http://www.wasabibratwurst.com/homemade-corned-beef-hash-recipe/

　　

Ease & Effort:

Straight away I had a minor problem - American and imperial measurements! These are obviously incomprehensible to a young thrusting English chef like me, so some conversion was required. The method was quite simple for a start, with exact timings such as “Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds.” This is good. Not so good is the instruction to mince the garlic as I don’t think many people have a mincer….and “shred the corned beef in a food processor”? Again, not everyone has the equipment. My own small hand-blender didn’t really do the job on the corned beef but it did the garlic just right! Good use of “mix” and “make an even layer” but I found the use of another pan to weigh down the mixture odd, and it makes more washing up. And flipping a whole panful of CBH is NOT easy! So, overall, average. Score 2.5.

Presentation:

Great idea to attempt to add a crust, after all, fried potatoes on a Sunday night are a million times better when encased in a lovely crisp envelope. The timings were “cook for about ten minutes” (I did exactly ten), then “flip and cook for another 7 to 10 minutes” (and as always in these experiments, if a range is given I use the mid-point, so, 8 ½ minutes). In the photo below, the portion on the left has the 10 minute side upwards, while the portion on the right has the other side - which I think looks just a little more appetising. Looked pretty good. Score 3.5.

Taste:

Lovely! Although the list of ingredients was simple, the flavour was fab, maybe less is more? Mind you, this recipe uses about twice as much corned beef, proportionally, to most, so it has a slight advantage - I can definitely say that if you have to choose between more corned beef or more vegetables, you HAVE to go the corned beef route. We shall see at the end of the challenge when we create (or try to create), the perfect CBH. The addition of the crispy finish was a stroke of genius, well done Wasabi Bratwurst. Score 4.

　

　　

　

My Version

　

　

　

　

Scores On The Doors:

Get Stuffed - 12

Brian’s Belly - 11.5

Netmums - 10.5

Wasabi Bratwurst - 10

Mamma Cherri - 9

James Martin “A” - 8.5

　

Running Order:

7 - Delia Smith

8 - BBC Radio Norfolk’s Wally Webb

9 - James Martin B

10 - Student Recipes

11 - Bob Jude

12 - Crazy Squirrel

Corned Beef Hash Challenge - Part 5 of 12 - Get Stuffed!

Get Stuffed was a children‘s telly programme a while back, and I harvested this recipe from their website. And it was - as you might expect from a kids’ telly show - fun!

Track Record?

Scrambled Egg - not entered.

Welsh Rarebit - not entered.

Poached Egg - not entered.

Did We Get Permission?

Yes! As follows:

Hi Simon,

Thanks for your message and the courtesy of asking to test the Corned Beef recipe.

Certainly ... go ahead. I'll be interested to see how you get on and (in my opinion) it's a good recipe that should work well.

I'll follow the adventures on your blog. It would be good if you could give a link to our web site at: http://www.getstuffed.info/

btw Last Ditch TV is also in East Anglia. We're based in the middle of Norwich.

best wishes,

Andy

Last Ditch Television

andy@lastditchtv.com

Website Version

You can find this recipe here: http://www.getstuffed.info/cornedbeef.html

Ease & Effort:

Easy. The recipe tells you exactly how you need to prepare the ingredients. How more specific can you get than “Chop the potato into lumps no bigger than the size of a ping pong ball ” or “chop up the corned beef into bits about the size of a front tooth which has become lost in a pub brawl“. Most excellent fun for kids young and old. All the ingredients are described in similar language, which appeals a lot to me, as much as it is probably intended to appeal to children. It is equally specific in advising the use of a wok, and a lid during cooking. It goes as far as telling you what to do if your wok doesn’t have a lid (does anyone have a lidded wok?). The timings are good, and I “stirred every 4 minutes” for a total of 16 minutes, which gave an excellent result. Score 4.5.

Presentation: 

It looked like it should - mixed together nicely, and with appropriate sized bits. Good. Score 3.5.

Taste:

This recipe combined all the ingredients very well, and I think it’s the best so far. It tastes like a complete recipe, and has the feel of something that has been road-tested a few times. My favourite flavour and texture so far, lovely! Score 4.

My Version

Scores On The Doors

Get Stuffed - 12

Brian’s Belly - 11.5

Netmums - 10.5

Mamma Cherri - 9

James Martin “A” - 8.5

Running Order:

6 - Aga Links

7 - Delia Smith

8 - BBC Radio Norfolk’s Wally Webb

9 - James Martin B

10 - Student Recipes

11 - Bob Jude

12 - Crazy Squirrel

Corned Beef Hash Challenge - Part 4 of 12 - Mamma Cherri

Mamma Cherri is the first competitor to try and bribe extra points with an addition to the basic CBH. This is a policy that has paid off in the past, James Martin won the Scrambled Egg week by disguising his effort as a full English breakfast (narrowly beating Mockney Oliver, who had added smoked salmon). As this pre-amble is written before I start cooking, it’s entirely possible that the extra ingredient to this recipe will score extra points - equally, it might be a complete disaster and wreck Mamma Cherri’s winning ambitions….we shall see….

Track Record?

Scrambled Egg - not entered.

Welsh Rarebit - not entered.

Poached Egg - not entered.

Did We Get Permission?

I asked but didn‘t receive a reply.

Website Version

No photo on the website, sorry.

You can find this recipe here : http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/cornedbeefhashwithfr_78048.shtml

Ease & Effort:

Standard preparation means this is “fairly“ simple - but the timings do become a little tricky. When you reach the grilling the hash stage, and also need to poach the egg, it has the potential to all go a bit Frank Spencer. Oh yeah, poaching an egg. It’s Mamma Cherri’s secret weapon but a lot of people have difficulty getting the poaching right. Fortunately I am a world renowned poached egg expert (crap pun skilfully avoided) and mine came out just about perfect….possibly aided by an extra thirty seconds in the hot water when the smoke alarm activated in response to the grilling! Remember, when you remove the hash from the grill, the bowl WILL be hot….Score 3.

Presentation:

Not sure about serving this in soup bowls…I put all mine in the one bowl because I‘m lazy and I‘d halved the ingredients. However, the juicy poached egg, with the yolk dribbling Nigella-style into the firm meaty hash beneath, added an extra “Yum” factor. Looks tasty. Score 4.

Taste:

I was slightly disappointed. I used half the listed ingredients in order to make two portions, not four, but this recipe tasted rather….plain. I would prefer to cook the onions and garlic for longer, indeed to include MORE of each. The overwhelming taste was of potato, with a side serving of the other bits and pieces. And the poached egg, although adding to the look of the dish, didn’t really contribute much to the overall flavour. Could Mamma Cherri have included the egg because the original recipe was too dry? Score 2.

My Version

Scores On The Doors

Brian’s Belly - 11.5

Netmums - 10.5

Mamma Cherri - 9

James Martin “A” - 8.5

Running Order:

5 - Get Stuffed

6 - Aga Links

7 - Delia Smith

8 - BBC Radio Norfolk’s Wally Webb

9 - James Martin B

10 - Student Recipes

11 - Bob Jude

12 - Crazy Squirrel

Corned Beef Hash Challenge - Part 3 of 12 - Netmums

Netmums is a website absolutely full of advice, support, ideas and all manner of good stuff, for mums. As a dad I’ve also found it to be very useful myself on many occasions - you don‘t have to be a chick to use this site. And hey presto, there’s a recipe for CBH on there too, provided by Alexi in Cornwall.

Track Record?

Scrambled Egg - not entered.

Welsh Rarebit - not entered.

Poached Egg - not entered.

Did We Get Permission?

I asked but didn‘t receive a reply.

Website Version

No photo on the website, sorry.

You can find this recipe here : http://www.netmums.com/food/Corned_Beef_Hash.61/

Ease & Effort:

Pretty straight-forward stuff. Rather like the Brian’s Belly version, this is a “chop & chuck”-style recipe. Chop up the ingredients, chuck ’em in the pan. The size of the chunks is included, which is helpful, and the time it takes for the potatoes to cool can be used to chop and brown the onion and prepare the corned beef, which is neat. All is well until the final two lines, “Add corned beef and season with pepper if required. SERVE!” Literally taken - as I am bound to do for the sake of this challenge - this tells you to add the corned beef, some pepper if you want to, then serve straight away. No mention of warming the corned beef through, or mashing the ingredients together. Whether this is an oversight, or whether the author assumes we will warm the corned beef, or whether this is the way this particular corned beef hash recipe was intended, I don’t know. But I have to prepare the dish As Written. Lastly, “a little oil” is also a little vague - I went for 2tbsp, but it could have done with more. So, Netmums’ recipe is easy, but vague at the very end. Score 3.5.

Presentation:

This looked very appetising, with big, chunky pieces of potato and corned beef mixed with the small pieces of onion. It certainly got my mouth watering before I’d even tasted it. Score 4.

Taste:

It tasted nice, but there‘s a but. The literal way I followed the recipe gave very little time for the corned beef to warm up in the pan, or for the ingredients to mix together and break down a little. The result was, albeit tasty, pretty much either lumps of potato or barely warm corned beef. If I used this recipe again I would allow a few minutes for extra cooking, mixing and combining of the ingredients. Score 3.

My Version

Scores On The Doors:

Brian’s Belly - 11.5

Netmums - 10.5

James Martin “A” - 8.5

Running Order:

4 - Mamma Cherri

5 - Get Stuffed

6 - Aga Links

7 - Delia Smith

8 - BBC Radio Norfolk’s Wally Webb

9 - James Martin B

10 - Student Recipes

11 - Bob Jude

12 - Crazy Squirrel

Corned Beef Hash Challenge - Part 2 of 12 - Brian's Belly

With a website name like “Brian‘s Belly“ how can I not include their recipe? This website is not for the faint-hearted! It’s a shamelessly blokey cooking site, with added booze. Then a bit more booze. And it’s fab for it.

Track Record?

Scrambled Egg - not entered.

Welsh Rarebit - not entered.

Poached Egg - not entered.

Did We Get Permission?

When I mentioned that I‘d be trying their recipe as part of the challenge, Brian‘s Belly replied “Sounds good! I usually add some diced jalepeno ever since I had them that way at a Waffle House... but WH makes 'em too mushy... I like them crispy. Dave”.

Website Version

No photo on the website, sorry.

You can find this recipe here : http://www.briansbelly.com/belly-recipes/corned-beef-hash-18/

Ease & Effort:

The recipe assumes you‘re using leftovers, including leftover corned beef - leftover from what, last night‘s corned beef hash? I used ingredients from fresh, so I hope that didn‘t clash completely with the Brian‘s Belly ethos. It’s simplicity in itself, to a point - after all, all you do is chuck everything in the pan until it’s hot. Now THAT was more the kind of preparation I was expecting from the CBH Challenge. And although I said that “diced” would mean “1cm cubes”, in this recipe “diced” is expanded as “As small as you can get them“. Well, I “could” have spent a very long time slicing and re-slicing until the potato and onion were virtually puree, but I stopped at about 2/3mm chunks. Quick and easy! I tried to find the mid-point between “nice and hot” and “brown”. Score 4.

Presentation:

It certainly looked a LOT more like my stereotype, never-seen-it image than James Martin‘s. It looked like corned beef mixed up with potato and onion! That’s probably a good look for this recipe. Score 3.5.

Taste:

This was delicious, and I polished it off in one go. This is definitely how I imagined the CBH to taste, with the addition of Brian’s Belly’s Tabasco sauce - “one teaspoon if you’re a baby, more if you’re a man”. So I dropped in two spoons (I’m male, I can prove it) and that made this taste wonderfully spicy. It certainly knocked spots off the first dish. Score 4.

My Version

Scores On The Doors

Brian’s Belly - 11.5

James Martin “A” - 8.5

Running Order:

3 - Netmums

4 - Mamma Cherri

5 - Get Stuffed

6 - Aga Links

7 - Delia Smith

8 - BBC Radio Norfolk’s Wally Webb

9 - James Martin B

10 - Student Recipes

11 - Bob Jude

12 - Crazy Squirrel

Corned Beef Hash Challenge - Part 1 of 12 - James Martin "A"

Lucky old James, finding himself first in the firing line. How will the housewives‘, ahem, full-time mums’ favourite get on with this kettle of fish?

Track Record?

Scrambled Egg - Winner! Out of 6.

Welsh Rarebit - 6th out of 6.

Poached Egg - 11th out of 12.

Did We Get Permission?

We asked, but didn’t receive a reply.

Website Version

You can find this recipe here : http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/515023

Ease & Effort:

Nice one James, this recipe is simple to follow and the timings are spread out enough to allow you to do bits and pieces as you go along (although prepping everything beforehand is always a better idea). We are told to “dice” the potatoes - so for the sake of consistency I will assume that “dice” means “1 cm cubes” for the duration of this challenge. Half a point lost for listing an ingredient as simply “milk” with no quantity, but I guess you just add as much as you see fit - a little hint would be better though. I halved the amounts needed so that my version would serve 2 people not 4 - and the resulting portions were “very hearty”! James Martin “A” scores 3.5.

Presentation:

The bottom two layers look nice, but they‘re topped off with a scary orange colour, like a North Lynn teenage girl at a disco. The dish cut up nicely, the slice stuck together nicely, but you probably won’t be able to take your eyes off the See You Jimmy wig on top. Score 2.5.

Taste:

It tasted OK. But it wasn’t what I was expecting of Corned Beef Hash - this was more like cottage pie. The corned beef/onion mixture was very tasty, the mashed potato topping was nice but seemed out of place, but the real problem came on the top. The cheese and breadcrumbs mixture just didn’t work for me. They didn’t really mix well, resulting in a lot of the breadcrumbs rolling off the top when I started to eat. As my first ever taste of “alleged” corned beef hash, this was pleasant, but I hope there are better versions ahead. Score is 2.5.

My Version

Scores On The Doors

James Martin “A” - 8.5 and into an early lead!

Running Order:

2 - Brian’s Belly

3 - Netmums

4 - Mamma Cherri

5 - Get Stuffed

6 - Aga Links

7 - Delia Smith

8 - BBC Radio Norfolk’s Wally Webb

9 - James Martin B

10 - Student Recipes

11 - Bob Jude

12 - Crazy Squirrel

Corned Beef Hash Challenge - Introduction

Right, following accusations of dairy product bias, this is a new challenge in a new direction. Meat. Sort of. Cured meat to be exact. You might know it better as corned beef.

Corned beef does not really contain any corn. It’s known as corned beef because back in the day the meat was salted (cured) using small pieces of salt which were the same size as a kernel of corn - hence you “corned the beef”. The name just stuck.

So, why are corned beef tins such an unusual tapered shape? Opinion varies, I have found the following varied reasons:

• To stop them from rolling about in your shopping trolley.
•  
• The tins are that shape so when you clean them out you can use them for perfect Yorkshire pudding tins.
•  
• To make them more difficult to open.
•  
• They were originally made in the tapered shape so that they would fit more compactly in British soldiers’ knapsacks in either the Boer War or the 1st World War.
•  
• They're not peculiar - they're the same shape as the corned beef inside.

But I think the definitive explanation comes from John Nutting, editor of The Canmaker Magazine (yes, really!) who says:

They continue to be made in their traditional tapered rectangular shape because it is easier to extract the contents in one piece, thus allowing the block of corned beef to be sliced. That's also why the cans also employ a key that enables the user separate one end of the body of the can: there's no seam to prevent the contents slipping out. Originally, the cans were made by folding up folding tinplate sheet that produced the correct taper and soldering the seam. More recently this has been replaced with cans that are formed from welded cylinders, then reformed and expanded mechanically.

Anyway, that’s the background info for you, on with the challenge! I’m going to endeavour to try one recipe each week until the race is run….

Judging Criteria

The corned beef hash will be judged on the familiar 3 criteria:

Ease & Effort:

How simple was the method to follow? Was there a lot of hard or fiddly work involved? Scored out of 5.

Presentation:

How appealing was the finished article once plated and ready to eat? Also scored out of 5.

Taste:

I have never, ever eaten corned beef hash in my life! So therefore I can’t apply any strict guidelines for how I want mine to taste, based on prior experience. Instead I’ll be going off-road and freestyle, and simply judging if it tastes great, good, OK I suppose, not too hot, or where’s the sick bucket. Scored , you guessed it, out of 5.

Running Order:

1 - James Martin B

2 - Brian’s Belly

3 - Delia Smith

4 - Mamma Cherri

5 - Get Stuffed

6 - Aga Links

7 - Netmums

8 - Wally Webb

9 - James Martin A

10 - Student Recipes

11 - Bob Jude

12 - Crazy Squirrel

James Martin, you will go on my first whistle……

Foodstuff Deathmatch - Quorn Versus Chicken

Always looking to be informative, I was wondering what - in easy to understand words - the labels on food meant. What are the good ones and which are the bad ones? I’ve researched for an hour or two and I’m pleased to provide you with the 2-Sox Food Label De-Coder:

Kcal -Calories. For adult men the guideline is 2550. For chicks it’s 1940. For 4-year-old little Superstars called Sam it’s 1715.

Protein - Is used by the body to repair itself, and help growth. More is good.

Carbohydrates - These are what the body converts into energy. These are also good.

Carbohydrates (of which sugars) - These are the sugars in your food, both those that occur naturally, plus added sugar. Natural sugars are less likely to cause dental problems as they are contained within the structure of the food, but added sugars are not good news.

Fat - We need fat to provide fatty acids that the body uses, but too much fat is not good at all, oh no.

Fat (of which saturates) - This kind of fat can raise cholesterol levels, which increases the risk of heart disease. If possible we need to replace these with other fats, or better still reduce the amount of fat completely. Bad.

Fibre - Helps prevent constipation, piles and bowel problems. The more the better!

Sodium - This indicates the salt content of your food. As a rough guide, multiply the sodium figure by 2.5 to find the salt content per 100g (multiply it up though for any amounts of food over 100g!). Adults should limit their salt intake to 6g per day or less. For children it’s different, Sam (4 years old) ought to have no more than 3g. Be careful.

Price - Less is better right? To a certain extent. Dirt cheap price probably equals more bad stuff (fats, salt) and less of the good bits (fibre, protein, good carbs). I may look into this further, to provide facts to (hopefully) back up my sweeping generalisation.

Soooooo. Nine different things to think about when you next go to buy your kippers/jam/crumpets. But I’m ahead of you…..when I last cooked Sam’s favourite chicken curry, I substituted chicken breasts with Quorn Fillets. Sam absolutely loves it, and it’s a guaranteed “scoff” every time. But how do real chicken fillets compare with the Quorn version, in my food numbers game?

Calories (per 100g) - Quorn Fillets 90, Chicken fillets 116. Point to Quorn.
Protein - Quorn 12.6g, Chicken 21.8g. Point to Chicken.
Carbohydrates - Quorn 5.9g, Chicken 0.0g. Point to Quorn.
Carbohydrates of which saturates - Quorn 1.8g, Chicken 0.0g. Point to Chicken.
Fat - Quorn 1.8g, Chicken 3.2g. Point to Quorn.
Fat of which saturates - Quorn 0.5g, Chicken 1.1g. Point to Quorn.
Fibre - Quorn 4.7g, Chicken 0.0g. Point to Quorn.
Sodium - Quorn 0.4g, Chicken 0.1g. Point to Chicken.
Price - Quorn £0.54 per 100g, Chicken £0.68 per 100g. Point to Quorn.

Based on the completely subjective 2-Sox Food Guide, Quorn Fillets are a better bet than real Chicken Fillets.

Quorn 6 Chicken 3.

Go Quorn!

Welsh Rarebit Week - Part 6 of 6 - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Hugh Bingley-Bongley! He’s mainly a Meat man, so how will he manage with a cheese task?

The Good Life wannabe did quite well but fell in the same hole that James Martin did - too many flavours! Less is more you celebs, less is more! KISS (keep it simple, stupid). A nice, simple-to-make offering this time, but how did it measure up?

You can find the complete recipe here : httphttp://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/perfectwelshrarebit_13772.shtml

Nice try all the same…..

Taste - 2.5

Overpowered. How sad that in a dish based on cheese, top chefs try to dominate the cheese with their own combinations of strong flavours. Why couldn’t they add a couple of delicate, COMPLIMENTARY flavours? Hugh’s meal tasted very confusing, was I meant to taste the cheese or the additions? They were, definitely, exclusive.

Presentation - 2

It looked orangey/brown. With a hint of something worse. Is this good? It’s cheese on toast. But it looked like something different. Disappointing.

Ease/Effort - 3

This was a really easy method to understand, but a little difficult to follow. “Warmed beer”? What does that mean? I warmed mine in a pan for 10 minutes. Right or wrong? Who knows?

Scores On The Doors:

Sue Marchant - 13

The Foody - 11.5

Delia Smith - 11

Country Life Dot Com - 9

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - 7.5

James Martin - 5